Sebastian Vettel won the Italian Grand Prix from pole position to extend his lead at the top of the championship. Fernando Alonso had another strong finish in form of a second place finish but he too couldn't challenge Sebastian Vettel, who seems to be running away with the championship. Nico Hulkenberg put on another strong show to prove his worth and that he deserves a top drive. While Lewis Hamilton finished in the points despite a troubled weekend.

These are some of the drivers who impressed us the most but who was your driver of the day? Let us know in the poll section below.

Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel - 10/10

Sebastian Vettel did everything right in Monza to take his sixth victory of the season that takes him 53 points clear of nearest rival Fernando Alonso in the drivers championship. He is also now tied with the Spaniard in the all time list of Grand Prix winners with 32 wins apiece.

Vettel didn't have the best of starts and locked his front tyres on the run down to turn 1. But the German still managed to retain the lead as the field passed through the all important first chicane. From there on he only extended his lead at the front before slipping a bit due to a gearbox issue. In the end he won the race by a margin of 5 seconds which might not sound as dominating as his win at Spa a fortnight ago, but it still gives him a championship lead that is enough to assure a fourth consecutive championship, until something dramatic happens.

Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Fernando Alonso - 9/10

Fernando Alonso had a strong afternoon in Monza in form of a second place finish. Alonso, who started the race from 5th place made a clear getaway and passed Hulkenberg on the run down to first chicane. On lap 3, he put on a spectacular move over rival Mark Webber to occupy the final spot on the podium. He then closed up on his teammate Felipe Massa who eventually handed him an easy second place after the latter was asked to do so in form of team orders.But the Spaniard didn't have the pace to challenge race leader Vettel and instead he was forced to keep Webber at bay after losing time in his sole pit stop.

The result moves Alonso further behind Vettel in the drivers championship but he remains as German's strongest rival

Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Mark Webber - 8/10

Mark Webber made a great start and initially challenged Vettel for first before eventually losing out to Felipe Massa in the first corner. He was then overtaken by Fernando Alonso on lap 3 in a manoeuvre which damaged Webber's front wing endplate. However, the damage wasn't much and he was able to continue the race without a front wing change.

Webber then leapfrogged the Ferrari of Felipe Massa by pitting a lap earlier and gained further ground to Alonso. However, a gearbox issue prevented him from passing Alonso and scoring a Red Bull 1-2.

Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Nico Hulkenberg - 10/10

Nico Hulkenberg continued his strong qualifying performance in the race with a strong fifth place finish for Sauber. Having qualified in third place, Hulkenberg slipped to fifth - losing out to fast starting Ferraris. But from there he showed good pace throughout, keeping the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg behind by a comfortable margin on his way to scoring his and team's best finish of the season. In fact the German scored more points in the race than he scored in all the previous races of the season.

Image Courtesy: Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton - 7/10

After a terrible Saturday that saw him getting eliminated in Q2, Lewis Hamilton started the race from prime tyres. But his Mercedes didn't have the pace on hard tyres, probably due to high fuel loads and he only backwards during opening 14 laps of the race before a slow puncture forced him to make an unscheduled stop. To make matters worse, he had problems with his team radio stopped working and he was unable to communicate with the team.

Despite all the troubles, Hamilton's two strong stints on medium tyres coupled with some great overtaking moves helped him to return to points scoring position and finish the race in 9th place. However, if we compare his race with Sebastian Vettel's drives from back of the grid in Abu Dhabi and Brazil 2012, albeit in different conditions, Hamilton's performance wasn't as extraordinary.

This website is unofficial and is not associated in any way with the Formula One group of companies. F1, FORMULA ONE, FORMULA 1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX and related marks are trade marks of Formula One Licensing B.V.

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.